Re: Virtual pitch

On Jun 21, 7:56 pm, hab...@xxxxxxxxxx (Hans Aberg) wrote:
In article <Oryei.3700$tI5.2138@trnddc08>, "Steve Latham"

<llat...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In figured bass, a note is written on the staff over which the chord will be
built.

If there is no figure, it implies 5/3 (and we may see 5, 3, or 5/3) and a
3rd and 5th are added above the note (root position).

If the figure is 6 or 6/3, a 3rd and 6th are added (1st inversion).

If the figure is 6/4, a 4th and 6th are added (2nd inversion - there's no
"abbreviation" for this one - the full figure must be included to avoid
confusion with other figures).

So if one writes out the bass note with a name, this is very similar to
modern chord notation.

In Roman Numeral analysis, RN append as:

I (RP)
I6 (6 superscript, 1st inv.)
I6/4 (6 super, 4 sub, so stacked, 2nd inv.).

For 4 note chords,
V7 (RP)
V6/5 (1st)
V4/3 (2nd)
V4/2 (3rd) - sometimes just V2 (but that's an homage to Piston as far as I
can tell).

So this writes out the position of the root as a number in the scale, plus
the numbers in thoroughbass, if one assumes that the chord should be built
up by thirds.

There's some advantage to this system in that it shows a lot more clearly
what's happening with NCTs, but can quickly get to be too much information -
it basically becomes another form of notation which, for analysis, might be
counter to what one wants to get at.

It seems that the idea is to write out what is the harmonic function, and
then add what one is used to reading in figured bass to identify the
inversion.

If one should generalize to modern music using more complex chords, I
think it would be best to write out the chord as in thoroughbass with a
note name or numbers identifying the lowest note in the given position,
plus the perceived root. I am not sure though exactly what notation to
use.

Hans Aberg


Yes, Hans, Figured bass is very much like the fake book notation and
the fact that complex chords used in jazz, are confusing. But because
of the improvisatory nature of Jazz, I think that the ambiguity is
perfectly OK. The musician will either know what is meant by the
notation or not. If he does he will either use it or make up his own
(like the person transcribing often does) and if he does not
understand it, he will improvise with his best guess and should still
make music that is understandable and valid. Many try to be too nit-
picking with jazz and forget that it should be improvised and from the
heart (well maybe brain).

Thus the problem with the throughbass for modern notation (Jazz I
assume as published music is after all written out and not improvised)
is that this notation becomes very visually complex and is really a
variation of writing out themusic. A baroque keyboardist only needed
the melody and figured bass. They usually did not writhe out the inner
parts, they improvised them according to the FB and followed
conventions. It was really a short cut for the composer.
LJS

.

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